Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

New genetic clues provide better understanding of epilepsy

Two specific areas in chromosome 7 and chromosome 16 have been associated with photosensitivity, an epilepsy-related trait, by a team of European scientists in the January issue of Human Molecular Genetics.

5 Jan 2005

New protein discovered holds promise for use in medicine and nanoscience

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in discovering and isolating a new protein from the poplar tree with special structural and qualitative characteristics that could have consequences for development of future nanocapsules for drug delivery to cancer cells.

5 Jan 2005

Direct modulation of progesterone signaling appears to influence ovarian cancer risk

A woman's risk of ovarian cancer rises significantly if she carries either of two previously unexamined variations in the gene that codes for the progesterone receptor, according to a team of researchers led by scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

5 Jan 2005

Genetics may not be enough to explain the rates of high blood pressure in US African-American populations

The international study gives a different interpretation to the previous US data and suggests that high rates of hypertension might have more to do with lifestyle and socio-economic background than with racial origin.

5 Jan 2005

Novel approach to bioengineer artificial skin for burn victims

Each year more than 45,000 Americans suffer burns serious enough to require a hospital stay, according to the American Burn Association. While the traditional therapy of using skin grafts to cover burn sites has improved, a number of problems including scarring, infection and poor adhesion remain.

4 Jan 2005

Genaissance patent for novel methods to correlate genetics with drug safety and efficacy

Genaissance Pharmaceuticals received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a patent claiming methods for identifying correlations between the safety and efficacy of drugs and patients' unique genetic signatures.

4 Jan 2005

Genomics tools provide clues to what causes 400 million cases of gastrointestinal disease each year

In a study that could benefit medical and food-safety research, scientists have used comparative genomics tools to find clues about why some strains of the bacterium Campylobacter – which each year cause more than 400 million cases of gastrointestinal disease – are more virulent than others.

4 Jan 2005

Signaling molecule involved in osteoarthritis identified

Using naturally-occurring mutant mice with a defective collagen gene, scientists at Harvard have identified a signaling molecule involved in one of the most common causes of disability among the elderly in the United States, osteoarthritis.

4 Jan 2005

£2.5 million to support further research into gene therapy for cystic fibrosis

The funding commitment was made in the Genetics White Paper, 'Our Inheritance, Our Future: Realising the potential of genetics in the NHS' and will help to ensure that those with cystic fibrosis benefit as soon as possible from the latest advances in genetic knowledge and technologies.

4 Jan 2005

Exposure to the chemical BPA (Bisphenol A) stimulates prostate cancer cell growth

An estrogen-like chemical commonly used to synthesize plastic food containers has been shown to encourage the growth of a specific category of prostate cancer cell, potentially affecting the treatment efficacy for a subset of prostate cancers.

4 Jan 2005

Extremely shy children have distinct facial expressions

Children who appear to have higher levels of shyness, or a particular gene, appear to have a different pattern of processing the signals of interpersonal hostility, according to a study in the January issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry.

3 Jan 2005

Ubiquitination protects against improper Notch signaling

The Notch pathway is an important molecular signaling mechanism whose existence has been known, or at least hinted at, for nearly a century since the identification of a mutant strain of Drosophila fruit flies with "notched" wings in Thomas Hunt Morgan's lab in 1910.

28 Dec 2004

New findings clarify the role of NOD2, a key molecular player in Crohn's Disease

This week, researchers report new findings that clarify the role of NOD2, a key molecular player in Crohn's Disease, in the cellular signaling pathways that control inflammatory responses. NOD2's clinical relevance is clear from the fact that it is encoded by a Crohn's Disease susceptibility gene.

28 Dec 2004

Evolution has been working very hard to produce us humans

The genes that regulate brain development and function evolved much more rapidly in humans than in nonhuman primates and other mammals because of natural selection processes unique to the human lineage. Researchers reported their findings in the cover article of the Dec. 29, 2004, issue of the journal Cell.

28 Dec 2004

Significant advance in understanding the human genome

An Oregon Health & Science University-led development of a technique for identifying control elements that drive the expression of genes in brain cells could unleash the disease-fighting potential of the much-hailed human genome.

28 Dec 2004

New technique for tracking gene regulators

Finding out where gene-regulator proteins bind to DNA and identifying the genes they regulate just got a step easier thanks to a new technique developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory.

28 Dec 2004

Does cancer run in families?

If you have a relative with cancer, probably one of the most pressing questions is what your chances are of getting it yourself. In a paper published in PloS Medicine, the premier medical journal freely available online, Laufey Amundadottir and colleagues from deCODE genetics (a company that is using genetics to develop new drug treatments) and Iceland’s National-University Hospital go some way toward answering that question.

28 Dec 2004

FDA go ahead for first of kind genetic lab test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the marketing of the first laboratory test system that will allow physicians to consider unique genetic information from patients in selecting medications and doses of medications for a wide variety of common conditions such as cardiac disease, psychiatric disease, and cancer.

27 Dec 2004

Discovery shows how embryonic stem cells perform 'quality control' inspections

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have found a fundamental mechanism used by embryonic stem cells to assure that genetically damaged stem cells do not divide and pass along the damage to daughter stem cells.

26 Dec 2004

Why hair turns grey

Few things about growing older are as inevitable and obvious as "going gray," yet scientists have been unable to explain the precise cause of this usually unwelcome transformation.

23 Dec 2004

Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

New genetic clues provide better understanding of epilepsy

New protein discovered holds promise for use in medicine and nanoscience

Direct modulation of progesterone signaling appears to influence ovarian cancer risk

Genetics may not be enough to explain the rates of high blood pressure in US African-American populations

Novel approach to bioengineer artificial skin for burn victims

Genaissance patent for novel methods to correlate genetics with drug safety and efficacy

Genomics tools provide clues to what causes 400 million cases of gastrointestinal disease each year

Signaling molecule involved in osteoarthritis identified

£2.5 million to support further research into gene therapy for cystic fibrosis

Exposure to the chemical BPA (Bisphenol A) stimulates prostate cancer cell growth

Extremely shy children have distinct facial expressions

Ubiquitination protects against improper Notch signaling

New findings clarify the role of NOD2, a key molecular player in Crohn's Disease

Evolution has been working very hard to produce us humans

Significant advance in understanding the human genome

New technique for tracking gene regulators

Does cancer run in families?

FDA go ahead for first of kind genetic lab test

Discovery shows how embryonic stem cells perform 'quality control' inspections

Why hair turns grey

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